News

Economy, weather will ‘make it tough on a number of farmers’

Some corn and soybean fields have a yellow appearance resulting from too much rain.  The precipitation overabundance has leached nitrogen away from the reach of corn roots.  In the case of soybeans, east central South Dakota farmer Paul Casper of Lake Preston says his are getting too little sunlight.

“Boy they’re really yellow,” Casper told Brownfield Ag News, “you’ve got to be careful what you wish for, but we need to kind of back off a bit for rain and give us some nice sunshine so we can kind of get those beans on track.”

Rain amounts increase toward the southeast corner of South Dakota.  Tim Ostrem of Centerville says his Vermillion River bottom ground won’t produce much of a crop this year.  He tells Brownfield his concern is for producers already hurting from the sluggish farm economy.

“The financial situation between low grain prices and weather and flooding issues is really going to make it tough on a number of farmers,” said Ostrem.

In other parts of South Dakota there are producers who Paul Casper says are “crying for rain.”

AUDIO: Paul Casper (5 min. MP3)

AUDIO: Tim Ostrem (4 min. MP3)